Lady Gaga

“I always loved rock and pop and theater. When I discovered Queen and David Bowie is when it really came together for me, and I realized I could do all three." - Lady Gaga

With her skyrocketing fame, outrageous outfits and controversial acts, Lady Gaga might just be the new Madonna. Her singles "Just Dance," "Poker Face," "Telephone," and "Alejandro" off of her debut album The Fame were all smash hits and seemed to revive the music-video industry. Now, with a just-released new single, "Born This Way," multiple awards and an outlandish entrance at the 2011 Grammys, Lady Gaga's celebrity is growing to infinite heights.

SEX APPEAL

Unlike many pop stars (remember Britney's virginity shtick?), Lady Gaga often proclaims her fondness for sex, and her persona is built around her sexuality. Like Madonna in her prime, Lady Gaga is intent on pushing boundaries and has shocked audiences in the process. But her unique, outrageous style paired with a killer body makes for quite the pretty package. She's often photographed wearing eccentrically revealing clothing (remember the meat dress?) and has been known to forgo pants altogether. We think we could get behind that trend.

SUCCESS

We're pretty sure Lady Gaga will continue to record more hit tunes, rack in some more awards at the Grammys, start appearing in the lad mags, and solidify her reputation as a dance music queen. Although her songs are all over the radio and her face is all over the internet, her upcoming second album will prove for sure that she's got staying power.

Lady Gaga Biography

Stefani Germanotta (later known as Lady Gaga) was born March 28, 1986, in New York City to an Italian-American family. She attended Convent of the Sacred Heart school and, as a little girl, she remembers singing into a plastic tape recorder to the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson. By age 4, Lady Gaga had taught herself to play the piano, and when she was a teenager, she penned her first song. When she was just 14, she was playing open mike nights at New York’s Bitter End, and by the age of 17, she had been accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

Lady Gaga started working the local Lower East Side club scene, performing then-hits like "Beautiful Dirty Rich" while donning her unique stage outfits. When she was 20, she started working for Interscope Records and was busy writing songs for other musical groups such as The Pussycat Dolls.

In August 2007, Lady Gaga performed at Lollapalooza.

Lady Gaga Releases The Fame With The Hit "Just Dance"

In 2008, Lady Gaga released her debut album The Fame, which included the hit tracks "Just Dance," "Boys, Boys, Boys," "Poker Face," and "Alejandro." She sang at the Winter Music Conference in March 2008. In July, she performed on the reality show So You Think You Can Dance as well as at the Miss Universe 2008 pageant. Then, that September, she made a guest appearance on MTV's The Hills, costarring Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag, Whitney Port, and Audrina Patridge.

In mid-2008, soon after she began getting major exposure, Lady Gaga dyed her naturally brown hair platinum blond. Apparently she was being confused with fellow rebel songstress Amy Winehouse.

Lady Gaga Collaborates With Beyonce

In 2010, Lady Gaga released "Telephone," a collaboration with Beyonce that became a smash hit. For the song, the two singers filmed a high-concept, high-budget music video that, at nine minutes long, put them on par with with pop culture icons like Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Lady Gaga Wins A Grammy In 2010

Lady Gaga garnered multiple awards for her hit single, earned a nomination for Album of the Year and won Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 2010 Grammys. Her song "Poker Face" was also nominated for Song of the Year.

Lady Gaga At The 2011 Grammys

At the 2011 Grammys, Lady Gaga won awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Bad Romance;" Best Pop Vocal Album for Fame Monster and Best Video for "Bad Romance." But more than for her awards, Lady Gaga made a splash with her entrance -- she was carried in by models in a giant egg. If you thought she couldn't outdo the meat dress from last year, well, she did.

And with the release of "Born This Way," the first single from her upcoming album, Lady Gaga is steady on her rise to the highest echelons of pop stardom, determined to surprise us every step of the way.